Foreign notes taken in house raids

Police say stashes of foreign bank notes and “irreplaceable” jewellery were stolen in burglaries in St Helens last week.

Burglars targeted a home on Rushy View in Newton-le-Willows at about 6pm last Wednesday (January 14).

Stolen medallion

A number of items were taken from the property including a quantity of cash, Hong Kong currency and jewellery including old-style Tudor, Omega watches and Chinese jewellery.

Earlier in the week, a gang gained entry to a property on Forest Road, Sutton Manor, twice on Monday, January 12 - once at about 7pm and once at about 9.30pm.

They stole English bank notes, US Dollars and a 50 Euro note, along with personal documentation belonging to the victims.

They made off towards Lea Green Road in a silver or white Volvo estate vehicle.

The offenders are described as being white and aged between 20 and 30. One was wearing a grey waterproof jacket and a dark-coloured bobble hat.

Despite the similarities, at this stage detectives do not believe these incidents are connected.

DC Neil Henry said: “Any burglary can be particularly upsetting for the victims and in one of these cases the victim has had a number of irreplaceable pieces of jewellery stolen.

“I would urge anyone who may have seen anything suspicious around these locations at these times to get in touch.

“I’d also ask members of the public to be on the lookout in case they are offered any of these items, including the currency, for sale either on the street, pawnbrokers or in pubs or see the items for sale on the internet.

“Our investigations will continue until we catch those responsible and I would urge anyone who has any information that can help us to reunite the victims with their property to contact the police.”

Anyone with information can call police on 0151 777 6843 or Crimestoppers, in confidence, on 0800 555 111.